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Our rain barrel was down to the dregs, or at least far enough that it could no longer keep the dripper dripping. The small showers of rain we’ve gotten so far this year weren’t enough to replenish the barrel. Finally we got enough out of the latest system to fill the barrel and the dripper is now dripping away. Our total was 1.11 inches. The weeds are so happy.
Wind. We’ve got it, or had it. I may have seen stronger wind on SA before Wednesday but I don’t remember when. I’ll be cleaning up trash and hauling off tree limbs until they drag me off to the old soldiers home. The trampoline slipped its moorings, nearly took out the peach tree ? the lone survivor of our orchard which fell victim to the 2011 drought ? and lodged in the junipers much the worse for wear. Chris and I teamed up to bend it back into shape and it seems it will serve its previous function. It had been tethered to a telephone by a heavy rubber strap. That broke in the wind allowing the trampoline to wander off. Now it’s chained to the pole. If that doesn’t hold, we’ll have worse problems than a scuffed up trampoline. Joyce got some sealing spray from the garden supply store to seal up the wound in the hopes the tree survives. Right now it is covered with pink blossoms.
The Wylie women were in residence last week. They and Rebecca celebrated Spring Break non-stop. The weather didn’t cooperate the first part of the week so most of their shenanigans transpired indoors. Finally, the wind stopped blowing, the sun came out and we took advantage with a visit to Wildcat Bluff on Friday. Saturday afternoon we drove out to the river where we first visited the Visitor Center at Alibates Flint Quarries. There was a flint knapper there knapping flint. We all got watch the man making flint tools while listening to his conjectures about how people came to use such tools. We went to McBride Canyon for lunch, then hiked some of the Mullinaw trail which follows the river. It was a nice day for hiking and a nice time of year to visit that area because the more objectionable locals were hibernating or hadn’t been produced yet this year.
The Hunts stopped by on their way back home and Kari fixed dinner for everybody. Abigail’s friend Aaron joined us. Why Abigail would subject him to that and why he would acquiesce to such treatment is beyond me. Anyway we had a nice visit and I presume they made it home OK.
There was thunder, lightening, wind and hail yesterday evening such that Joyce and I almost abandoned our plans to attend the symphony. We already had our non-refundable tickets so we were peeved about the wasted money as much as missing the concert. The storm diminished some and we finally decided to give it a go, although the concert was supposed to start at 7:30, which was about when we left the house. We were hoping they had delayed the start because of the weather and, as it turned out, we got to our seats just as they were about play the first song. The program was music from western movies and TV shows, which brought back memories, and was really well done. This morning there was .83 inches of rain in the gauge. We also got a tenth of an inch the day before. The pea sized hail was still piled up in places this morning.